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Joshua Robinson

Ms. Oberg

English 11

11/5/15

Misrepresentation and the Death Penalty

There are many views on the practice of capital punishments, these views cause much

debate on things such as whether or not it is ethical and if it is fair. Many people note that the

current capital punishment system is very flawed and regardless of ones views on the subject,

there are problems arising from the current system. Paroblems within the capital punishment

system vary from things such as ethnic biases to its effects on the economy. A large problem

with the death penalty is that it misrepresents some while favoring others. Many of those

convicted were not given proper representation and were later found to be innocent.The use of

capital punishment is bias towards those with low economic class and those of colored ethnicities

which would give reason for misrepresentation. Some will claim that almost all of those on trial

for death row are given chances for equal representation, but for reasons such as bias of courts

and inconcomitant lawyers this becomes, at large, questionable.

In trials where the accused were on trial for the death penalty and were found guilty, later

were found to be innocent. This would only happen because of misrepresentation. A good

example of this is the execution of Larry Griffin in 1995. This is an example of

misrepresentation via racial bias. Larrys case only had one white witness, a white man named

Robert Fitzgerald. The case had no linking DNA evidence. According to the judge, Mr.

Fitzgerald had: a seriously flawed background, and his ability to observe and identify the

gunman was also subject to question." This shows that Larry Griffin being African American,
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and the only witness being a white man, was not given proper representation despite having

inadequate evidence towards his guilt. The court made no attempt to prove his innocence despite

many thinking that Robert Fitzgerald was not a reliable source. The factor that went into

discarding Fitzgeralds testimony was that he had been facing felony charges at the time.

Because of this, many questioned the validity of his testimony. This is a prime example of the

defense getting poor representation because of possible racial bias. The white eyewitness

received more representation than the defendant despite the witness having little validity or

substantial evidence.

A large problem with representation has a lot to do with money issues among the

defendant. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCAB) wrote in its fact sheet

Death Penalty Overview: Ten Reasons Why Capital Punishment is Flawed Public Policy:

There have even been instances in which lawyers appointed to a death case were so

inexperienced that they were completely unprepared for the sentencing phase of the trial. Other

appointed attorneys have slept through parts of the trial, or arrived at the court under the

influence of alcohol. This shows that many of the cases are very poor representations due to the

lack of strong defense lawyers. Most of the accused persons are unable to pay and are receiving

these lawyers. This causes the cases to be extremely unfair to most of the accused because they

are unable to afford their own lawyers and are given inadequate lawyers. Since this makes up

most of capital punishment cases, changes should be made.

In capital cases ,the accused has The Right to Adequate Representation. The defendant,

whether or not they can afford a lawyer of their own, can receive an appointed lawyer. With the

Right to Adequate Representation, the lawyer must reach a certain standard level of

representation or the the case is void. The case can be voided because of the Sixth Amendments
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right to fair trial. This is an issue in capital punishment, the accused are increasingly getting

inadequate representation. In Anthony Porters, he tried to exercise his right to adequate

representation. He claims that his counsel failed to investigate that someone other than Porter

was the murderer, the counsel didnt call a defense witness, didnt properly justify his

whereabouts during the murder, and failed to meet up with him except before and after trials. He

received bad representation due to the fact his counsel made no effort to plan with him for the

trial. He claimed they were winging it. His claims were rejected and he lost the case. Porter

also claimed that his attorney ceased investigation when he was unable to pay the money they

agreed on. This shows that he, being unable to pay his attorney, got misrepresentated. He was

later found to be innocent.

Works Cited:

Zernike, Kate. "Executed Man May Be Cleared in New Inquiry." Executed Man May Be Cleared in

New Inquiry. New York Times, 19 July 2005. Sat. 7 Nov. 2015.

"The Right to Adequate Representation - FindLaw." Findlaw. Sat. 7 Nov. 2015.

"Representation in Capital Cases | Capital Punishment in Context."Representation in Capital Cases

| Capital Punishment in Context. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.

"Is Poor Representation by Public Defense Attorneys a Widespread Problem in Capital Cases? -

Death Penalty - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.